In an September 2018 interview, Akinola said he wanted to honour the 1963 original recordings in his version of the theme. In fact, he samples the original theme — made by Delia Derbyshire and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop — in his arrangement.[1]

"Our viewpoint across the whole thing was basically that it should be new — but new didn't mean that it had to be the opposite of everything that has come before. [...] I just tried to make it the best it could be."[1]

He cites inspiration from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in his Doctor Who compositions, in particular their use of "found sounds".

Before working on Doctor Who, Akinola had scored BBC Two's four-part series Black and British: A Forgotten History, and Shola Amoo's A Moving Image, a feature film about gentrification.

He also scored Dear Mr Shakespeare, a short on racial tensions in Shakespeare's Othello, also directed by Shola Amoo. Most recently, Akinola wrote the score to BBC documentary series The Human Body, Expedition Volcano and Wonders of the Moon.